United Nations reports an estimate of 35% of women worldwide who have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. However, some national studies show that up to 70% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Three students from the Habib University’s School of Sciences and Engineering helped Code for India make Zairya India, an online portal to help women seek report abuse and seek legal assistance. The chance came upon them, when they interned for Code for Pakistan in their summer break in 2015.
The Assistant Professor of Computer Sciences at HU, Dr. Waqar Saleem had earlier contacted Code for Pakistan for summer internship opportunities for HU students, where he was informed about Zariya Pakistan, an online portal serving the similar purpose that of the one launched in India. On presenting the project to his students, three students accepted the internship: Anusha Fatima, Syed Muhammad Hasan Naqvi and Fatin Nawaz.
During the course of the project, the attention of the project was diverted to Zairya India as it was closer to completion than Zariya Pakistan. The student’s according to the official blog post were very excited for the chance to work with Code for India in the process. The student’s contributions are officially recognized by Zairya India’s website which was adding tracking abilities to the website through Google Analytics.
This is a great feat for the students of Habib University and for their contribution in helping address a serious social issue.
